Beneath the Mirror's Surface
by Dark Oath
Summary: AU, Trying to get more of an original DMC feel, rather than the later games. Dante, Vergil and a world full of demons. Some may even get out alive...


Devil May Cry and all associated is the property of Capcom.

The sound of the phone ringing brought Dante into his office. He'd considered ignoring it, hoping Trish would get it but she hadn't. On stepping into his office, without thinking he reached for Rebellion, the phone still ringing. He scanned the room, trying to find what his eyes couldn't see. Taking a step forward his stomach lurched as he was gripped by a sense of disorientation, the ringing fading into nothingness. As he regained his equilibrium he rubbed his forehead. "Damn, should've known that pizza was iffy."

He looked around his office. "Okay, what smart-ass decided to redecorate or does someone wanna explain where the hell I am?" He directed his question to the darkened corner of the room. The rubble on the floor, chunks of debris from the building, the broken desk and the cobwebs lent to the impression that whatever had happened here, it had happened longer ago than the few moments that had passed. He paused and waited for an answer. Raising Ebony to the shadows, he tried again. "I can hear you breathing. Either you can answer me, or I can fill you full of lead then find out myself."

As the soft footsteps approached, Dante's reaction was only tempered by years of learning to expect anything. "Vergil?"

"We'll talk later, for now just move." Vergil unsheathed his sword stabbing into the darkness behind him.

Dante reacted instinctively, expecting Vergil to come for him until he saw the Hell Vanguard drop and disintegrate at Vergil's heels. "What..?"

"Later. I said move." Vergil jumped onto the building rubble, jumping higher until he came to an opening, Dante following as he shot at the demons that seemed to literally form from the darkness around them, Vergil cutting a path in front until they made it out of the building. "This way," Vergil commanded as he took off into the depths of the city.

Dante noticed as he ran to keep up, the sky was shades of reds, oranges and dark pinks. Everything seemed to be coated in a shroud of darkness. It was almost tangible, yet it was more something sensed than seen and it touched everything, the sky, the buildings, even the sun seemed to be engulfed in it as it shone deep burnished orange in colour. The colour of a sun dying. The air felt thick, he recognised the feeling. It was something he'd felt every time he dealt with the underworld. He levelled with Vergil. "What's going on?"

Vergil dived into a doorway. As Dante followed he recognised the sigils on the walls and the floor, hell, one of them was on the floor of his office. Not that it had ever been_ that _successful at keeping the demons out. Now they seemed to be somewhere Vergil appeared less guarded, Dante asked again. Still keeping his own guard up, he kept a wary, distrusting eye on his brother. "So, you going to answer my question?" He walked casually round the room looking at the odd demonic artefacts and arcana that were dotted around. Stopping at the far end of the small room he turned to face Vergil. "Clearly you're not dead. Why are you here?"

Vergil picked up a book, idly thumbing the pages. "Do you remember when we were young, the time Sparda tried to kill us?"

Dante cocked his head to one side slightly, eyes narrowing. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"We survived," Vergil continued, ignoring Dante's question. "because you stopped Sparda's sword. Seeing that we had strength, gave us worth so he allowed us to live."

"First things first. That never happened. So that leaves the same question I had before, where am I?" Dante levelled a gun at Vergil again. "I'm running outta patience, bro."

"It did happen. It just didn't happen in your world."

"My world? Where, how and why? And enough bullshit, I'm getting pissed."

Vergil walked over and put a hand on Dante's gun, lowering it, but taking note of the slight flex of the fingers of Dante's other hand. "I need your help," Vergil stated bluntly.

Still not letting his guard down fully, Dante put Ebony back in its holster. "Then you'd better start talking."

"Come," Vergil gestured for Dante to follow him through the small door to the rear of the room. Dante went through the door closing it behing him and followed Vergil down the dimly lit narrow stairs which as Vergil explained led to an underground compound, one of many all over the world.

Following Vergil through the small compound, Dante was reminded of just about every post-apocalyptic film he'd ever seen. The distinct difference this time was this was real. There were no weak fluorescent lights, electricity didn't exist here, the light was provided by Luminite embedded into the walls. Looking around, almost everything they had that resembled technology was demonic in origin. Human development had taken a very different route here.

The number of sigils on the walls, floor and ceiling had increased as they entered a larger room. Judging by the thin figures of people backing away as Dante passed, he figured this was where civilians were housed. Though he was also concerned by how frightened they seemed to be of him.

"The charms and sigils can only do so much," Vergil said noting Dante's attention on the marks over the walls. "We keep them concentrated around this area, a safe place for non-combatants." Vergil's jaw clenched very slightly. "As safe as we can manage."

They left the larger area for a small side room, the sickly glow of the luminite duller in here. Dante briefly wondered if it was because they could only get so much of it. The stone was quite common in the Underworld, but despite outward appearances outside of the compound, this was not the Underworld. Dante knew before Vergil had to say anything, that this was the Human world.

Finally taking a seat, Vergil started talking as Dante took up residence leaning back against the wall. "We can talk more freely in here."

"Good, because I think I've been more patient than enough." Dante's initially hostility had waned a little at what he'd seen, but you didn't spend too long in his line of work taking things at face value and live to tell the tale. He looked over at his brother. "Talk to me, Verg. What the hell's going on here?"

"Two thousand years ago, when the Underworld waged war against the humans, they won. The world you see now is the result of that. Of the humans that do remain, very few are free, and those are hunted." He paused. "This world is a mirror of yours."

Vergil was here fighting for humanity, then just maybe. Hope seeped in, she always was his weak spot. "Mother..?"

"Dead." Vergil said bitterly.

Dante didn't ask, he had a good idea how but it was still a painful blow. He felt now compelled to ask. "And..."

"Sparda was killed." Vergil pre-empted the question, then looking directly at Dante, he added. "By you."

Dante mentally reeled for a second. By his hand? If this universe was a mirror of his own, then did that mean Vergil, his Vergil had something to do with...the thought trailed. No, that his mother was dead here too, and his father also just proved that even though it was mirrored, it wasn't exactly so.

"I never said it was a perfect mirror." Vergil voiced Dante's thoughts. "I don't know how closely they match, but for my purposes, it's close enough."

"So you want me to storm the castle, kick the bad guy's ass and go home again?" Dante's tone, though casual, still contained a hint of scepticism.

Vergil's expression held little warmth. "Crudely put, Dante. But that sums it up."

"So," Dante said as he hooked a foot around the leg of a chair, pulled it over, sat down and leant back, hands behind his head. "Who's the bad guy here? Mundus?" Dante noticed the mildly distasteful look Vergil gave him at his feet balanced on the edge of the small table, noticed, and duly ignored. He held no doubts that Vergil would be nothing if not brutally honest on the details, including how this universe's version of him died. He didn't expect Vergil's answer.

"You."


End file.
